RURAL MAILS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 662, 14 May 1929, Page 10

RURAL MAILS

POSTMASTER-GENERAL’S POLICY SYSTEM EXPLAINED Over 19.000 settlers throughout New Zealand are enjoying the advantages of postal facilities provided by the rural mail delivery system. This morning the Postmaster-Gen eral, the Hon. J. B. Donald, gave some interesting information concerning this firmly-established method of meeting the needs of settlers in the outlying districts of the Dominion. ' He stated that his policy was to provide, as far as possible, the more closely-settled rural areas with postal facilities, equal at least to those ot the smaller towns and for the settlers in remote and sparsely-settled areas, a mail delivery at least three times a •week. . The Minister stated that the present system, under which settlers participating in such deliveries paid a small annual fee—£l per annum for a service the frequency of which is greater than thrice-weekly, and 10s per annum for a service the frequency of which is not greater than thrice-weekly—was introduced seven years ago. ihe high cost of maintaining rural man services and the relatively large loss on such services made it imperative for the post office to review its former policy of providing such services free.

RESULTS JUSTIFIED The alternative to charging a small fee for the service was the curtailment of the extension of the system and, as this would have been to the serious disadvantage of isolated settlers, it was rightly not adopted. The adoption of the present system has been fully justified by results. With the revenue derived from the fees, the department found itself able to increase the frequencies of many of the then existing services and to extend the system. Even now there are many deliveries on which the department is bearing a loss. Without the fees from such services their establishment could not have been arranged. With the revenue derived from the fees the department has been enabled to proceed with a progressive policy in respect of rural delivery services, and now over 19,000 settlers are enjoying the advantages of modern postal facilities. In addition to delivering and collecting mail matter the rural mail carrier sells to liox-holders postage stamps and envelopes embossed with postage, and obtains for them as required money-orders and postal notes. SAVING FARMER’S TIME

The farmer has thus an advantage over the city dweller, who must journey to a post office or street box to post his mail matter and to a post office to transact other postal busiIt is now recognised by farmers that the time expended in travelling to the nearest post offices to transact their postal business could be more profitably employed on their holdings, and that the small amount paid for a rural delivery service is saved many times over by the more profitable employment of the time that would be occupied in travelling to a post office. The Minister mentioned that the establishing of rural deliveries enables small post offices on the routes of the services to be closed, as they are no longer required. Instances have come under notice in which one section of a rural community favoured the retention of the local post office and the other section the establishment of the rural delivery. In such cases, when there was a decided lack of unanimity, the existing conditions were permitted to remain undisturbed. Frequently there is an indication of a sentimental attachment to the post office on account of old associations.